


Pax Solaris

by Glitchguardian



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Backstory, I'll tag more characters as I go, Minor Violence, The OCs are only there for a little while, sorry im new at this whole thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6659992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitchguardian/pseuds/Glitchguardian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young Hux is taken prisoner by the Resistance. Determined to please his father he tries to spy for the First Order, but his time with Resistance makes him wonder what this war is truly about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting to this site so please help me out when I inevitably mess something up.
> 
> I do have a beta but my beta thinks I'm a normal person, so if anyone else would like to lend a hand I'd be super grateful.

Brendol Hux II is just pulling his shirt on after a relaxing shower when the chaos begins. 

He peeks out of the bathroom to see his barracks in unprecedented disarray, his fellow students running about as they clumsily attempt to follow emergency procedure without any knowledge of what the threat is. 

Hux calmly weaves his way through the panicked mass of students to his bunk, looking through his meager collection of belongings until he finds the switchblade he'd managed to smuggle into the Academy. He slips it open and shut, the faint snap echoing slightly in the suddenly quiet room. 

He turns to face the throng of his peers, frozen in their mad dash to turn their eyes to him, silently asking for his direction. He hadn't spent the past several months pretending to enjoy their company for nothing; now they all looked to him for guidance. 

"Ekkin," he says, turning to a blond boy at his right, who he knew had reprogrammed a data pad to receive high-security information, "What is the situation?"

Ekkin nods sharply and pulls out his data pad. Several nearby students lean in to read over his shoulder, but reel back when he finds what he's looking for. "It's an attack," he whispers, glancing up to meet Hux's eyes and then, thinking better of it, to look worriedly at the door, "By the Resistance."

There's a collective gasp and an outbreak of muttering. Hux regains control with another snap of his switchblade. "Any word from the instructors?" he asks. A multitude of attack scenarios had been drilled into their heads, but higher command had thought it too much of an impossibility that the Resistance would ever find this place and had neglected to provide the necessary information. An oversight that could cost them the base, as there were over a hundred confused children ready to rush blindly at an enemy they knew nothing about. 

Deianira, a black-haired girl near the comm on the wall, replies in the negative. No orders since the lights-out the night before, and nothing since the announcement of the emergency situation that had begun this whole mess. 

"We cannot know for certain if any of them are still alive," Hux says eventually, ignoring the worried whispers that start up. "Radio silence means either the Resistance has been defeated or that they have somehow taken control. We cannot simply rush out of here. We have no weapons and no information. Our only solution is to wait for contact and be prepared to fight should it be Resistance.

"No sending out signals either, Trebio" he adds, leveling a glare at a dark-haired boy who is reaching for Ekkin's pad. "We cannot afford to reveal our location to the rebels." 

Hux glances around the room, meeting each of the eleven pairs of eyes waiting for his next orders. He feels a rush of adrenaline at the thought that every single one of these people, his peers, have put their lives in his hands. "We are the top students at the Academy. Many of our parents are high-ranking. If the rebels find us, they can and will try to use us either for information or as hostages. We cannot risk leaving or contacting help. These barracks are now our base and we must defend it with our lives, if it comes to that. If we lose, we may just bring about the fall of the First Order."

He leaves them with that chilling statement and returns to the bathroom, gathering all the razors he can find to make makeshift weapons. His fellow cadets are well-trained, and he can hear them bustling about in the main room in their own attempts to find or make as many weapons as possible. 

An hour later, the lot of them are gathered at the entrance, tense, hands gripping crudely made weapons and muscles locked in fighting stances. 

By the time the next hour rolls around, many of the cadets have drifted to their bunks, weapons at their sides within an arm's reach. Hux stays standing in front of the door, his pose relaxed but his muscles still tensed for a fight. The most loyal of his followers are still beside him, although he catches them shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. 

At the end of the next hour, Hux stands alone. His muscles are screaming for relaxation but his stance doesn't waver. 

"Ekkin," he says, eyes still trained on the door, "Check the feed again."

The cadet looks up from his bunk. "I thought you said we shouldn't risk them picking up our signal?"

"There's no getting around it now," Hux replies. "We cannot go on blindly. It's been too long; if the situation had been contained, the authorities would have contacted us by now with an all-clear. The lack of any contact means the rebels have taken the base, which means we need all the information we can get."

Ekkin lets out an undignified squeak and pulls out his data pad again. He lets out another squeak upon reading. "They took the base," he whispers. "The instructors just - they surrendered. Almost immediately."

There's a collective cry of outrage before the cadets realize themselves and quiet down. Hux scowls at his shoes. Those incompetent imbeciles in high command had been so sure they would never be attacked by rebels they hadn't bothered to outline a plan for that eventuality, and now that it had occurred, they had surrendered without a fight. 

Truly a disgrace to the First Order. 

"Hold on," Ekkin says, tapping hastily at the data pad. "With their surrender they gave up control of all systems, and the Resistance probably hasn't locked anything down yet. I used to be locked out by complicated security measures, but -" He lets out a small cheer. "I have control of the security cameras."

Hux shoots the boy a grin over his shoulder. "Good. Do a sweep of the path between here and the training armory."

"Are we going to make a run for it?" a girl asks. 

"I am," Hux replies. "I don't want to risk everyone at once." He takes a deep breath. "If I don't make it back within the next hour, Deianira is in command."

Deianira shoots him a worried look, but salutes anyway. 

He notes how quickly the others had taken to him assuming command. Officially they were all equal, but no one had raised any objections to the rapidly-emerging power structure that had developed. It may have just been because of the impending threat of Resistance attack. He pushes the thought aside for later. 

"The path is clear," Ekkin says. The boy hands the data pad to a girl at his left. "And I'm going with you."

Before Hux can respond, the blond goes on, "One of Lieutenant Alberlan's rules is that no one ever goes out alone. Besides, we can carry more weapons between the two of us."

Hux concedes and the two slip out the door. 

He glances back at the worried faces of the other cadets as the doors close and wonders if he'll ever see them again. 

He pushes that thought aside too. 

Ekkin grabs his wrist, pulling him from his musings. The boy releases it immediately upon Hux's withering glare, but hovers close to his side. 

The boy is loyal to him. In any other situation they may have been friends, but in the harsh, kill-or-be-killed environment of the Academy, Ekkin is simply a pawn. They both are. 

Hux glances down the hallways and takes off at a run toward the training armory, Ekkin at his heels. The boys reach the door without incident, and with a few quick lines of code on the keypad, Ekkin breaks through the lock. The pair of them enter the armory - 

Right into the range of a waiting Resistance soldier. 

Hux barely has time to curse his oversight - why hadn't he bothered to check  _ inside _ the armory - before the soldier lets off a shot of his blaster. The smell of charred skin immediately assaults Hux's nose, and he lets out a cry as Ekkin falls suddenly, a chunk of his chest missing. 

He's not sure what happens next, but before he knows it, he hears the distant sound of someone screaming, someone else shouting, and his hands suddenly feel wet. 

He comes back to himself to realize he is the one screaming, and he stops himself as soon as he regains control of his vocal chords. He takes stock of his body and realizes with an uneasy feeling that he's crouched over the Resistance soldier, switchblade out and hands drenched in their blood. From the damage to the soldier's chest, he realizes he has been slamming the blade repeatedly into it. Hardly a clean kill, but it is his first outside of a simulation.   

The shouting is coming from some other source, he realizes as it begins again. This time he can make out individual words; a man is yelling for him to calm down. 

He stills his body and turns to look over his shoulder. It's another Resistance soldier, much older than the one he'd just killed, with some sort of large, furry being hovering at his shoulder. 

Hux sees Ekkin's body out of the corner of his eye, and his eyes flicker back to the man in fear. He holds up his knife, hand barely shaking, in what he hopes is an even mildly threatening posture. He doubts it has any effect; the man is clearly much more experienced, and the hairy creature is carrying a nasty-looking bolt gun. 

The man raises his arms, lowering his blaster to the ground, the creature following suit behind him. "I don't want to hurt you," he says. 

"You killed Ekkin," Hux manages to whisper. 

The man winces. "We told the pilots not to use lethal force on the kids, but we also expected you to stay in your rooms. I'm really sorry about your friend, though."

"What's going to happen to us?"

The man glances at the creature. "We're going to take you off the base, get you away from the First Order. It'll be better for you in the long run."

Hux doesn't believe this for a moment. He knows that, as children of high-ranking officers, they are all virtual well-pools of information, and much easier to crack open than the adults. 

"My father is Commandant Hux," he says slowly, desperately hoping the mad plan he's concocting will work. "He has told me much about the First Order's strategies and plans. I will go with you willingly provided you leave the rest of the students alone." He gestures at the body of the soldier he's still crouched over. "As you can see, we can put up a fight."

The man shares another glance with the creature. "Very well," he says, not bothering to hide the fact that his true motive was information. 

He holds out his hand and Hux places the bloodstained switchblade in it. He trails behind the man, the creature following him to make sure he keeps his word, as the trio makes their way through the winding halls to the shuttle bay. 

Once there, the man relays the change in directive to the Resistance while the creature nudges Hux to an unfamiliar, circular spaceship. 

Hux bristles at the thought of stepping on to such a dirty vessel that's clearly in need of serious repairs, but he needs to keep his word. A plan is coming together in his mind, something that will allow him to earn back the respect of his father. He will cooperate with the Resistance for now, divulging plans his father had never told him, supplying them with a combination of his own investigations and pure speculation until they see him as a full-blown traitor. Then he will begin investigating their own plans and somehow send the information to his father. 

Hopefully becoming a First Order spy will make up for the humiliation of being captured. 

The inside of the man's spaceship is worse than the outside, he notes with distaste. Forget repairs; it would be better to scrap the ship altogether. 

He barely notices the man entering the ship, closing the hatch behind him. "Welcome aboard the Millennium Falcon," he says cheerfully. "My name is Han Solo, and this is Chewbacca."

"Brendol Hux," Hux supplies. 

He's guided to the cockpit and allowed to sit behind the man and the creature as they prepare the ship for launch, something he thought was unheard of for prisoners. 

He tries to make a note of how the launch sequence is initiated in case it comes in handy later, but the controls are so archaic compared to the ships he's trained in he can't follow what the two are doing. 

"So, Brendol," Solo begins once the ship settles into hyperspace, "What planet are you from?"

"I prefer Hux," Hux mutters, "and I'm from Arkanis."

Chewbacca makes a roaring noise and Solo chuckles. How the man understands such a primitive language is beyond the boy, but he elects to make no comment in his quest to gain the Resistance's trust. 

In the ensuing silence, Hux's mind drifts to Ekkin's last moments. He keeps seeing flashes of the boy's face, mouth frozen in an 'o' as he falls. He even sees the Resistance soldier, face mostly hidden behind a helmet but shock clearly evident. He looks down at his hands, and the blood that still covers him. 

He's jerked out of his recollection by a hand at his shoulder. His head shoots up to see Solo smiling down at him, radiating concern. "Let's get you washed up, okay?" 

The man guides Hux to a sink and helps him scrub the red stains off his hands until they look almost normal. 

Hux feels himself growing almost comfortable, and shakes himself to remind himself where he is. These people are the enemy, regardless of the fact that he feels safer with Solo than he ever did with his father. 

He remembers Ekkin's face, which clears away any feeling of safety. These people had killed Ekkin, he reminds himself. 

But as the shock of seeing someone die begins to wear off, he realizes that the boy's death isn't affecting him as much as he expected. He had thought of his peers as beneath him in his fight for command, and regardless of how useful Ekkin had been or how much he pretended to care for the boy, he cannot feel anything beyond frustration at the loss of an asset. 

He knows he is supposed to put the Order first, beyond the lives of any one of his comrades, but even he can see how unnatural his reaction is. 

It scares him, he realizes. It scares him how hard it seems to be to care that one of his closest companions at the Academy has died. 

He feels a sudden surge of hate toward the First Order for placing him in an environment that stripped him of his ability to care, but he quickly forces that down. It would not do to actually turn traitor. 

They were being trained for battle, he reminds himself as he sits back down in the chair behind Solo's in the cockpit. Care and compassion have no use in battle, where one's comrades could be killed at any time. 

He watches the hairy beast and Solo chatter, and listens to half of their conversation about meaningless things, and realizes he can no longer convince himself. These two strange beings, high-ranking members of the Resistance, the enemy, seem as close as he assumes friends would be. From what little he's managed to learn about the members of the Resistance, such close ties are not unusual, and yet they too go into battle. 

So which is it, he wonders. Good or bad?

Solo stands from his chair. "I'm getting hungry," he says, and, leveling a smile at Hux, "What do you want to eat?"

Hux blinks up at him. He's only ever eaten standard rations, which, while nutritionally balanced, were never very satisfying. 

The older man seems to see the confusion on the boy's face, as he nods without waiting for a response and retreats further into the ship, leaving Hux with the hairy beast. 

It roars at him, as if it is trying to communicate. Hux blinks slowly up at it, eyeing its massive size and prominent claws, and elects to keep silent. He has nothing to say to this thing, and while he wants to keep an eye on its movements, he has no desire to acknowledge its attempts at contact. 

He's glad when Solo's return breaks the tension. The man is carrying three plates of some unknown meat and a collection of unfamiliar vegetables. He hands a plate to Hux and another to the beast, settling in the pilot's chair with his own. 

He glances over his shoulder at where Hux is poking at his meat in confusion. "It's bantha," Solo says. "It's good. Try it."

Against his better judgement, Hux does. It actually tastes quite nice, savory but not too sweet. 

When he gets to the vegetables, he immediately spats them back out onto the plate. They're a sharp, sour flavor, unlike the bland vegetables he'd had before. He hadn't thought Solo would poison him considering he'd offered information, but now he admonishes himself for not being more careful. Had the meat been poisoned too?

The beast roars and Solo turns to look at him again. "Don't want to eat your vegetables, huh? Reminds me of my son, no matter what I try he just -"

"Did you poison me?" Hux gasps out, interrupting the man. 

Solo blinks for a second and then laughs. "That bad, huh? Sorry. It's not poison, just spices. You can rest assured that I won't try to hurt you."

Hux nods slowly. Solo will stay true to his word, he tells himself. He's made himself an important asset to the Resistance and they wouldn't dare hurt him. 

The hairy creature roars and adjusts itself in its seat, flipping switches and pushing buttons and preparing to leave hyperspace. Solo grabs the three trays and heads out of the cockpit, returning just as the lights of hyperspace fade and a planet appears in the viewport. 

It's smaller than most other planets Hux has heard of, and much more green. Even from space, Hux can see the lush forests and deep blue lakes that make up the planet. 

"Welcome to D'Qar," Solo says. 

The man smiles, but Hux feels a chill run up his spine. It's time for him to face the Resistance, and he's not sure if he's ready. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More characters appear, meaning I must somehow update the character list

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the super positive response! I love you all

Solo makes Hux climb down into the cargo hold. 

"It's a precaution," the man says. "It won't be for long, just until we can get you safe transport into the base."

It's your prison, Hux's mind tells him. They're going to keep you in here until the days and nights blend together and you're half-mad from starvation and lack of sunlight, and then you'll sing like a farrowbird. 

He's confused when, what seems like just over an hour later, Solo returns. "Sorry about that," the man says, crouching over the open hatch. "We just wanted to make sure the path to the base was clear for you. I hate to say it, but a lot of people around here are a bit too trigger-happy."

"And we know they have no qualms about killing children," Hux adds darkly. 

Solo looks like he's going to argue, but waves the topic away instead. He reaches a hand down to help the boy out of the hold. 

Hux ignores the hand and clambers out himself. 

He trails awkwardly behind the man again, the hairy beast once more trailing behind him. 

The planet the Resistance is using for their base is lush and green, full of strange plants that almost glitter in the warm sunlight. 

Hux's home planet, Arkanis, had also been lush and green, but he rarely had the chance to enjoy it, what with the almost endless storms that washed through and the almost endless series of simulations his father had forced him to test.  

He tilts his head upward and allows himself a brief second to bask in the warm light before schooling his features into a scowl and pressing on. Solo hadn't noticed his brief moment of bliss, and he hopes the creature behind him has enough sense to keep its large mouth shut. 

Solo leads him to the main structure, a building concealed by a mountain, only visible by the partially concealed metal doors that mark the entrance. Solo halts just outside as a hidden panel opens and reveals a camera. The scan takes barely a second, and then the doors slide silently open. 

The beast prods Hux rudely between his shoulder blades, but he manages to keep himself from stumbling as he trails after Solo into the base. The hallway is dim and undecorated, empty and humming with the faint energy of the power lines that rest just behind the walls. The trio passes several unlabeled doors until they reach a large, open space, cluttered with machinery and powered-down holoscreens. The room is just as empty as the rest of the base seems to be, but the dishevelment of the chairs and screens suggests that the room was recently vacated in a hurry. 

A door at the other end of the room opens with barely a hiss of compressed air, and several lights flicker on, revealing the new figure. 

It's a woman, tall and brown-haired, with strong features drawn down in a scowl. Her arms are crossed over a simple jacket emblazoned with the Resistance logo and she seems to almost radiate irritation. 

"Leia," Solo starts, and Hux realizes this must be the Resistance general he's heard his father complain so much about. 

The woman huffs. "So you finally decide to show your face here, and it's only to drop off a consolation prize."

"We didn't know about the ship's true purpose until it was too late and only had the resources for one," Solo explains. 

Hux isn't quite sure what either of them are talking about. He hovers awkwardly behind Solo's tall form, trying to keep the General's cold gaze from settling on him. 

"Reinforcements were coming and I had to make snap decisions," the man continues, trying to defend himself. "That tends to happen when you're on the field, if you recall."

The lines on the woman's face harden. "I stopped working in the field to take care of my son. A son who hasn't seen his father in almost a standard year.  _ If you recall _ ."

Solo flinches and looks down at his feet. Hux feels his hands start to fidget and quickly tightens them into fists. He feels out of place here, observing this argument he's missing so many pieces of he can't even follow along. Half of him hopes he would be acknowledged so he can get this whole affair over with, and the other half of him wishes he could run back and hide in the man's ship. 

The General's eyes snap up to look at his, as if the woman senses his mounting anxiety. When he manages to meet her gaze they soften slightly. 

"I hear you made a deal," she says, and her voice seems softer, suddenly, "Offering yourself and any information you have for the lives of your classmates. That was quite a," she pauses, "Brave move."

Hux nods sharply. "Thank you, ma'am." This woman stands in the way of all his father, and he, by extension, have been fighting to achieve, but he forces his face blank and his mind to calm, not wanting to give any inward or outward sign of his discomfort. 

"May I ask your name?"

"Brendol Hux, ma'am, son of Commandant Brendol Hux."

"He likes to go by Hux," Solo adds. Unnecessary, Hux thinks. As true as it may be, he's willing to be called any number of things to get in the good graces of the General. 

The General herself simply hums, not giving any outward sign of her opinion of him. 

He feels a soft brush on his mind, eerily similar to when he was at the Academy, just before he'd be reprimanded for not having a calm enough mind. As a reflex he stills his thoughts, emptying his brain as he had been drilled to do. The woman's eyebrows rise, the only outward sign of her surprise. 

Solo looks between the two of them, confused, before shrugging. "What should we do with him?"

"Take him to my brother," the General says. "He doesn't appear to be Force-sensitive, but we can tell the others that he's a new student. It would be good for keeping an eye on him, anyway."

Hux doesn't understand what "Force-sensitive" means, but he does recognize the mention of the woman's brother. General Leia Organa's mysterious brother had been the other object of his father's frequent ire, perhaps even more so, as Brendol Hux I had often complained of his "mystical ways" and "disorder" and "unpredictability".  

Solo nods his head and glances down at Hux, jerking his head back towards the way they came in. The creature is no longer behind them, and Hux realizes that at some point it had peeled away and disappeared. 

Lucky, he can't help but think. 

As he follows Solo back down the hallway, he can't help but spare one final glance over his shoulder at the General. Her head is tilted to the side and there is a look of blatant curiosity on her face. 

She turns and leaves through the door she came out of before he can get a clear look. Hux turns and hurries to where Solo is waiting for him outside the base. 

"I'm supposed to take you to see Luke Skywalker and his padawans, over on Yavin V," Solo explains as he leads Hux back to his ship, "But I think it would be better to do that tomorrow. You're probably very tired, huh?"

It's true, Hux realizes. This morning he'd been preparing for just another day at the Academy, and perhaps twelve hours later, he was leaving an audience with the General of the Resistance. Between then he'd seen someone die, killed someone, and had chosen to engage in espionage, a choice that made him, by all appearances, a traitor to his people. He hopes he finds a way to contact his father soon, as the longer he waits, the less likely it is he will be believed. 

Solo settles him down on a comfortable couch. It's about as wide as his bed in the Academy, but far softer. He falls asleep instantly, too tired to spare a thought for the danger of falling asleep first in hostile territory. 

It feels like only a moment before he's being awoken. The second Solo's hand touches his shoulder his senses are jolted alive and he's shooting up into a sitting position. He manages to stop his reflexes from shoving Solo away from him, not wanting to anger the man. 

Solo looks concerned at Hux's reaction, eyebrows drawing together and a frown pulling at the lines in his face. 

"Good morning," the man says, electing not to comment on whatever fault he'd found in Hux's actions. "Chewie's staying here, so it's just the two of us going to Yavin." 

"Do you need me to copilot?" Hux asks. This way he will not only gain trust, but also learn how to manage the ship in the event he needs to steal it. "I've flown lots of ships before," he adds, not mentioning the fact that they were all simulations. 

Solo sighs. "That would help, but you're going to have to listen carefully. I don't want you messing up my ship."

And so Hux finds himself sitting beside Solo in the cockpit, trying to simultaneously listen to the man's directions and memorize launch sequence. With Solo providing some form of explanation, he realizes it's not too far off from the launch sequence of a particularly complex TIE fighter, just with extremely archaic controls. All Solo needs to do is tell him what he's looking at, and he can work from there. The man almost seems impressed. 

Hux pays particular attention to the controls for incoming and outgoing messages. It's just his luck that the keypad is placed at a particular angle that prevents Solo from seeing what he's doing. 

He sends a quick message to the coordinates Solo gives him to inform the General's brother of their arrival, and then types out a message for the First Order. 

_ >>>With Han Solo, gaining Resistance's trust. Location of current base is D'Qar. Will send info on attacks when able. -Cadet Hux.<<< _

Hux sends the message to the Academy's general server after pinging it through several random servers, not wanting to reveal the coordinates of any other First Order base to anyone who may be listening in on the transmission. 

He hopes whoever finds his message will believe him, although a sinking feeling in his gut tells him not to be too hopeful. He hadn't been able to be as detailed in his message as he would have hoped, and it's more likely than not he's been marked as dead or turned traitor, and anything he says will be taken as a falsity. 

He curses the paranoid nature of the First Order. 

Regardless of whether anyone on the other end is listening or not, he will continue sending messages. When he sends advance warning of attacks he'll be able to gain some credibility, and for that he needs a higher level of trust between him and Solo. He slides back into the copilot's chair and helps the man prepare for the launch into hyperspace. 

Hux feels Solo's gaze on him as the autopilot engages, and glances up to see the man regarding him thoughtfully. He draws his eyebrows together in confusion and is only given a half-smile as an answer. 

"You really are a good kid," Solo tells him, shifting his gaze to the vacuum of space. 

Hux has no idea what prompted the statement, but although his features remain placid, inwardly he is in turmoil. He's done nothing to deserve praise or kindness from Solo, and yet the man had never moved to hurt him and had even trusted him to copilot the ship. 

He wonders at the difference between this man and his own father. Hux had shown weakness - carefully calculated weakness, but weakness nonetheless - and where his father would have had sharp reprimands for such a failure of self-control, Solo had almost seemed to care. 

He shakes himself of the ridiculous thought. He was nothing more than a particularly useful prisoner. General Organa had said herself that Solo was supposed to keep an eye on him, which was why they were making this journey at all. Any kindness Solo had shown him was surely nothing more than a result of the fact that their first meeting had been over the dead body of Hux's first kill. 

The ship comes out of hyperspace and lands on Yavin V with relatively few issues, and Hux executes his part of the landing sequence with very little assistance from Solo. He feels a strange flutter of pride at the man's praise and berates himself for becoming complacent. 

As the hatch opens, a sudden, wildly flailing, presence assaults his mind. He stills his thoughts in time to avoid the presence catching hold of anything, but is still almost bowled over by the force of the affront. 

The hatch opens fully and Hux sees his assailant: a tall, scrawny boy with wild black hair and flowing brown robes. The boy is staring right at Hux, eyebrows drawn together and a sharp scowl on his face. 

"Who even  _ are _ you?" the boy asks. 

Solo emerges from behind Hux before he can reply with a biting retort. The man's face splits into a grin, and the boy tears his gaze away from Hux to focus on the newcomer. His scowl breaks into a grin and he runs into Solo's waiting arms. "Dad!"

Hux backs away slowly, not wanting to intrude. The pair seem excited to be reunited, if their matching grins are anything to go by. 

He thinks about his own father, and how the Commandant would react to his son's return. The man would likely only spare him a nod or a stiff handshake.

He wonders again at the easy companionship of the members of the Resistance and this time he recognizes the feeling of jealousy for what it is. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to update this weekly but clearly that's not going to happen, sorry
> 
> Expect chapter 3 within 10 days from now unless something else goes bad
> 
> Thanks again for all the comments and kudos!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han lets two children bully him into letting them go into battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still haven't figured out how to add more characters and by 'haven't figured out' i mean forgot
> 
> I said it was going to be here in 10 days, right? I know it's pushing it but I made it? Yay?

Solo's son seems to have completely forgotten about Hux as he leads the man away from the ship by the hand, chattering excitedly about things Hux has never heard of and people he doesn't know. Hux trails awkwardly behind the pair, not wanting to get in trouble and break the fragile trust he's built. 

Solo waits until his son's excited rambling comes to a break before jutting in. "Ben," he says quickly, "I can't stay long."

The boy looks crestfallen. "W-what?"

Solo puts his hands on his son's shoulders and smiles so sharply even Hux can see that it's forced. "I have, ah, a secret mission. I'm just here to drop Hux over there off and then I have to go."

"Why can't you stay for a little while?" Ben asks incredulously. "I haven't seen you in  _ forever _ . Not since you guys sent me away for training."

"It's an important mission. Lots of enemy fighters. They need me for defense."

Ben scowls deeply, almost radiating hurt. He crosses his arms and turns away, glaring at the ground. 

"If you're going to help be the defense, then you should bring Ben with you," Hux surprises himself by saying. He's sure his astonished expression matches those on the faces of the other two. "You need me to copilot," Hux hurries to defend his statement, trying to pretend he knows what he's talking about. "So I can't be a gunner. And Ben knows the ship, right?"

Ben catches his frantic glance and nods. "Yeah," the boy adds. "You practically raised me on the Falcon. I can fire the guns in my sleep."

"You two are just kids," Solo replies shortly, crossing his arms. "I'm not sending you into battle."

"Then stay here!" Ben practically yells. "They don't really need that old ship, do they?"

For some reason, Solo looks personally offended. "That ship has been the lifeblood of our family. It brought me to your mother. It brought your uncle to his destiny. It made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs."

He looks like he's headed toward a tangent, so Hux steps in. "You can't just fly off without a copilot."

"I can fly without a copilot," Solo retorts, but he's clearly struggling to find excuses. 

Hux doubts the "secret mission" is even real. There had been nothing from Leia or over the comm system about any sort of assignment. He's not sure why he's trying to get Ben to join him and Solo - or why he's trying so hard to stick with Solo at all. The rational part of his mind tells him that it would be easier to make himself seem like a person one would trust Resistance secrets with if the people he was with hadn't seen him kill a man. 

"You need a copilot if you're going into battle," Ben says, surprising Hux. The boy is almost pouting now. "Besides, you're just glorified backup. How much danger is it, really?"

Ben levels Solo with a stare so Hux does the same. The man glances between them, an unreadable expression crossing his face. Eventually he sighs. "Fine, you two can come."

"Yes!" Ben cheers and holds up a hand, palm facing Hux. The boy stares at it, confused. "You're supposed to hit it," Solo's son tells him, eyebrows drawing together. Hux lifts his own hand and gently rests it on the other boy's. Ben shrugs, satisfied. 

Solo herds them back onto the Falcon. Hux notices the expression on his face and smiles to himself. The man is clearly wishing desperately that there is an actual mission going on so he can keep up the lie. 

Ben sits behind Hux as the redhead and Solo initiate the launch. He swings his legs, hitting the seat in front of him and making it jolt. 

Hux tightens his grip on the controls in front of him and tries not let his regret show outwardly. He's still not sure exactly why he worked so hard to persuade Solo to take Ben along - he wants to think it was to build up his trustworthiness, but he knows it was more something to do with how let down Ben had looked when Solo had told him he was leaving. 

"Dad, you never said," Ben says once the ship is in hyperspace, "Who is this guy?"

"That's Hux," Solo replies, sending the redhead a small smirk. "I found him and decided to keep him."

Hux narrows his eyes at the man while Ben bursts out laughing. That is an oversimplification at best, but Hux is not about to tell the other boy where he really came from. Ben would hardly trust him after that, and he's decided that if he has to he stuck in a ship with this boy, he may as well make him an ally. 

To his relief Ben doesn't question his father's statement, and instead resumes kicking the back of Hux's chair. Hux thinks he's doing it on purpose now. The redhead scowls. 

"Why don't you two go check to make sure the gun's working?" Solo suggests just as Hux is about to launch himself over the back of the seat, trust be damned. 

The boys hurry out of the cockpit and Ben leads the way down the ladder to where the controls for the main gun are. "This is the only one that works anymore," Ben explains, flipping a few switches and checking the readouts. 

Hux has never seen this type of gun before so he hangs awkwardly off the end of the ladder, watching and trying to puzzle out the controls. 

"So, what’s your  _ real  _ story? Why are you copiloting and not Chewie?" Ben asks conversationally as he works. 

Hux has to take a second to remember who 'Chewie' is, and another to concoct a reasonable story that isn't quite a lie. "Solo picked me up in a raid. We left Chewie back on the base on D'Qar. I'm not sure what he was doing, but we didn't wait for him."

Ben pauses and shoots the redhead a confused glance. "There's no base on D'Qar."

A cold feeling washes over Hux. "Maybe the Resistance moved there and you never heard about it."

Ben shakes his head. "Uncle Luke is the General's brother, she tells him everything. The Resistance stays away from D'Qar as long as it's neutral, there's a whole agreement about it."

Hux glances away from the dark-haired boy's piercing gaze. His mind flashes back to the message he had sent to the First Order. If he's taken seriously, the Order will attack the planet, guns blazing, and make no attempt at diplomacy. Whatever agreement of neutrality the planet had will be broken the second they try to defend themselves, and the Resistance will then be able to sweep in. The result would likely be an official war, rather than the war currently being fought right under the New Republic's nose. For all his training to be a soldier, Hux does not want to go to that kind of war, the where two equal sides destroy each other instead of a futile resistance struggling against a mighty empire. He realizes that, with the New Republic's official backing and aid, the Resistance could become a real threat, and he feels disgusted at himself for the possibility it may be his fault. He can’t even send another message to clarify because that call into question the validity of his correspondence and the Order may just attack anyway.

No, it was Solo's fault, he reminds himself.  If the man hadn't lied to him, he wouldn't have sent the wrong information. If a total war breaks out, it will be on Solo's shoulders. 

Reassured for the moment, Hux turns his attention back to Ben, who is just finishing up. "Everything seems good," the boy says, nodding, and gestures Hux to go back up the ladder. 

Instead of returning to the cockpit, Ben leads Hux to a small cabin area and sits down by a strange checkered table. "You ever played Dejarik?" he asks as Hux hesitantly seats himself beside the dark-haired boy. 

"No," Hux replies, frowning at the table, which now holds a strange arrangement of holo creatures. 

As Ben talks him through the rules, Hux finds himself growing dangerously comfortable. It's a strategy game, and strategy has always been one of his strengths. Within two games, he's already crushing Ben. He finds himself grinning and letting out shouts of joy at successful moves and quickly reins himself in. This kind of behavior may be fine in the Resistance, but he is still a member of the First Order - he fears he has almost forgotten - and he must conduct himself as such. 

If Ben notices his sudden sullen mood, he makes no mention of it. 

"Listen," Ben says suddenly in the middle of a round. Hux glances up, but the other boy's gaze is still on his creatures. "I want to thank you. For what you said back there. I know dad was planning to drop you off and then split, but you tried to catch him in a lie and now..." Ben trails off, hands clenching into fists. "I never get to see him and you basically forced him to let us join in. So thanks."

Hux tries to think of something to say in response but, for the first time in his life, he's drawing a blank. This isn't one of his allies back at the Academy, this is some kid. The excuse he'd given himself for making Ben an ally are pretty flimsy, considering the fact that the boy is going to be sent back to Yavin V when all this is over and he plans to force Solo to let him stay on the ship to get actual intel. He had barely known the kid when he'd first spoken up for him, let alone had any plans that required Ben's loyalty. 

Hux narrows his eyes and pretends to be concentrating on the game. Now that he thinks about it, he's not sure if the planet the Jedi occupy is even Yavin V. He had planned to send that as part of his next transmission to the First Order and possibly regain their trust, but now he was questioning that, too. He couldn't send anything to do with the Jedi without also sending information about their location, and he couldn't very well ask Solo for the coordinates. 

He pushes the thought aside, though he knows he needs to figure this out sooner rather than later if he wants the Order to listen to him. 

The boys play a few more games before Solo comes in with the intent to make some food. It's the same fare he'd gotten the last time he'd eaten, almost a full day ago, when Solo had been bringing him to the Resistance. He hadn't noticed his huger, used to it as he is from survival training at the Academy, but it all comes back to him upon his first bite of meat. He eats quickly, suddenly starving, until he gets to the vegetables. To his surprise, they taste just as bland as the ones back at the Academy, and seem to have none of the weird-tasting spices of the last batch. He glances up at Solo, who sends him a half grin. 

Solo confuses him, he decides. The man had been nothing but kind to him, and everything in Hux screamed to return the favor, lest Solo's mood change, but the fact remained that Solo had lied to him. It was because of Solo that the First Order was about to attack a neutral planet and bring the whole galaxy into their war with the Resistance. All the gestures of kindness in the world couldn't make up for that. 

Ben elbows Hux's side, and Hux barely stops himself from punching the other boy in the face. Ben doesn't seem to notice, and leans in to whisper, "Do you think he's found a battle to back up his lie yet?"

Against his better judgement, Hux allows himself a grin as he whispers in return, "He looks smug enough."

Ben laughs, and then laughs harder at Solo's confused expression. Hux finds himself thinking about how nice the boy's laugh is and how he'd like to hear it again. 

He locks that thought away as tightly as he can. 

But when Ben leans onto his shoulder, still laughing that  ~~ beautiful ~~ laugh, he can't quite bring himself to shove the boy away. 

What is happening to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all your kudos! I hope the story continues to please
> 
> And I'm sorry for leaving Chewie behind but I want Hux to get over his human superiority complex before I bring him back in. Chewie doesn't deserve that.
> 
> 10 days between updates seems to work so that's my schedule guys, if I miss it you can yell at me

**Author's Note:**

> I'll continue this if people like it. If you have any suggestions or if I made a mistake please feel free to tell me! I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.


End file.
